Rolled-sheet tearing means



March 26, 1963 H. WARP 3,082,922

ROLLED-SHEET TEARING MEANS Filed Dec. 9, 1957 INV ENTOR.

United States Patent 3,082,922 RLLED-SHEET TEARING MEANS Harold Warp, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Flex-O-Glass, Inc., a corporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 9, 1957, Ser. No. 701,606 2 Claims. (Cl. 22S-19) This invention relates to a tearing means and, in particular, to a tearing means lfor use in a rolled-sheet dispenser.

Known means for dispensing rolled-sheet material, such as waxed paper, plastics, metal foil, etc., comprise a container or housing adapted to receive the roll therein and having lan elongated opening -through which the end of the rolled-sheet is drawn to be dispensed. To facilitate the tearing of the sheet end from the remainder of the rolled-sheet, one ledge of the opening conventionally is toothed. A disadvantage arises in the presently known dispensers, in that once the end portion is torn from the remainder of the roll, it is difiicult to manipulate the remainder portion so that the end .thereof may be grasped and withdrawn from the housing to be torn from the roll in a subsequent dispensing operation.

The` principal object of this invention is to provide a new and improved means lfor tearing the end portion o-f a rolled-sheet material which'permits the end portion of the remaining rolled-sheet to 'be grasped readily for a subsequent dispensing operation. f

Another object of the invention 'is to provide a sheet tearing means yfor use in a dispenser having a housing adapted to receive the rolled-sheet material, which tearing means comprises an outwardly projecting wall extending from the housing a distance substantially greater than the thickness .of the persons finger tips and having an outer edge provided with `a plurality of sheet tearing teeth, whereby a substantial port-ion of the remaining sheet material is `arranged for ready grasping by the users fingers.

Still another object is to provide such a tearing means having lsuch a first Wall projecting outwardly from the housing and provided with a toothed outer edge and a second wall facially juxtaposed to and substantially coterminous with the first wall, the second Wall being provided with a smooth outer edge defining a guard adjacent the tips of the teeth of the first wall -to preclude injury to the users fingers by the teeth.

A still further object is to provide such a tearing means wherein each `of said walls is provided with an opening adjacent the opening of the other wall permitting the insertion of a users ngers therethrough to engage an end portion of the sheet material disposed between the walls.

Yet another object -is to provide -such a sheet tearing means having a wall projecting from the housing and provided along its outer edge with a plurality of sheet tearing teeth, the wall further being provided with a plurality of reinforcing ribs.

Other features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following descr-iption taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet tearing means embodying the invention, the housing on which the sheet tearing means is provided being shown in dotted l-ines, and a sheet end portion being shown associated with the tearing means for a dispensing operation;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the sheet tearing means with portions thereof broken away;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation thereof; and

FIG. 4 is an end 'elevation of a modified form of sheet tearing means.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, as disclosed in FIGS. l through 3 of the drawings, a sheet tearing means generally designated is shown to be associated with a container or housing 11 adapted to receive a roll of sheet material 12. To dispense a desired portion of rolled sheet material |12, an end portion 13 thereof `is withdrawn from housing 11 to be torn therefrom by means of tearing means 10. Tearing means 10 is arranged in a novel manner so that when end portion I13 has been separated from the rolled-sheet 12, a remaining end pori tion 14 of the rolled-sheet extends :from housing `11 for ready grasping by the -users fingers, thereby to facilitate withdrawal of end portion 14 for Iay subsequent dispensing operation.

More specifically, tearing means 10 comprises a first wall 15 projecting outwardly from the housing a substantial distance. Wall 1-5 is provided, along its outer edge, with a plurality of teeth 16. A second wall- 17. is provided to project outwardly from the housing acially juxtaposed to and substantially ooterminous with first wall 15. The outer edge 18 of second wall \17 is preferably smooth and defines a guard extending adjacent teeth 16 to precludeinjurious contact of the users fingers with the teeth tips.

A-s indicated above, in the instant invention, the projection of walls .15 `and 17 Ifrom housing #11 is substantial. It is preferred that this extension be substantially greater than the thickness of a persons finger tips, `and a construction `found to function very well in dispensing material such -as p lastic sheeting is one wherein the teeth 16 have a depth of approximately 1A `and the projection of wall 15 from the housing to the teeth is approximately The corresponding extension of second wall 17 from the housing is, thus, approximately 7AM. With a tearing means 1t) of such construction, it will be seen that remaining end portion 14 of the sheet m-aterial extends outwardly from housing 11 substantially Ms", or a distance substantially greater than the thickness of a persons finger tips.

To permit the engagement of the users finger tips with the projecting end portion 14, each of walls 15 and 17 is provided with at least one opening through which the. users fingers may be extended into engagement with the sheet portion 14. In the illustrated embodiment, first wall 15 is provided with a pair of such openings 19 and second wall 17 is provided with one such opening 20. Openings 19 and 20' Iare preferably adjacent one another and, as best seen in FIG. 2, openings v19 may be spaced a short distance on opposite sides of opening 20. Thus, for example, the user may insert the tip of his thumb through opening 20 and the tip of his forefinger and middle iinger through spaced openings 19 to engage, on opposite sides, end portion 14 of the rolled-sheet. With sheet portion 14 thus effectively clamped between the users fingers, sheet portion 14 may be moved outwardly beyond the outer edges of walls 15 and 17 by a movement of the finger tips through openings 19 :and 2t) in a direction away from housing 11. The portion of the rolled-sheet brought outwardly from the outer edges of walls 15 and 17 may then lbe grasped and a continued withdrawal of the sheet material .from the housing effected until the desired end portion 13- is withdrawn `from the housing beyond teeth 16. It should be noted that when 'end portion 13 is severed from the remainder of the rolled-sheet by being drawn across teeth 16, a new remaining end portion 14 is automatically disposed between walls and 17 so that this new remaining end portion 14 may be manipulated by the nsers fingers through openings |19 and 20 in the manner described above when desired.

:In FIG. 4 is shown a modified form of tearing means, generally designated 30. Tearing means 30 is similar to tearing means 10 in that it comprises a sheet tearing means which projects substantially from the housing in which the Irolled-sheet is retained so that subsequent to a dispensing or tearing operation, a substantial portion of the remaining rolled-sheet is extended Ifrom the housing for ready grasping by the user in a subsequent dispensing operation. More specifically, sheet tearing means 30 comprises la Wall 31 projecting outwardly from the housing 32 a distance substantially greater than the thickness of a persons finger tips. The outer edge 'of wall 31 is provided with a plurality of sheet tearing teeth 33 similar to yteeth A16 of sheet tearing meansV 10. In the illustrated embodiment the projection of wall 31 between housing 32 and teeth 33 is approximately 1%.

Wall 31 -is preferably relatively thin to facili-tate the tearing action of teeth 33 against the sheet material. I have found that with such a thin wall having such an extended projection from housing 3-2, it is desirable to elect a rein-forcing thereof to preclude a yielding of the wall when lthe sheet material is drawn across teeth 33 which may result in an improper tearing operation. For this purpose, one or more reinforcing ribs, such as ribs 34, may be formed in Wall 31 extending in a direction Igenerally away from the housing 32. To effect a longitudinal reinforcing of the Wall, one or more ribs 35 may be provided extending transversely tothe direction of the extent of wall 31 away from housing 32.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in Ithe construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as dened in the -appended claims.

I claim:

1. For use in a dispenser having a housing for receiving a roll of sheet material, means for tearing an end portion of the sheet material drawn `lirom the roll and outwardly from the housing, said means comprising: a rst Wall arranged to project outwardly from the housing Iand provided along its outer edge with a plurality of outwardly projecting teeth, the outward projection of Ithe wall being at least the thickness of an laverage persons iinger tip; and a second wall arranged to project outwardly from the housing facially juxtaposed and spaced from the first wall by the thickness of the sheet end therebetween subst-antially coter-minous with -the tirst wall and provided with a smooth outer edge defining a guard adjacent the tips of the teeth of said yrst Wall to preclude injury to a users fingers by said teeth, each wall being `provided with an opening disaligned with ythe opening of the other wall permitting the insertion of an opposed pair of the users iingers respectively therethrough to engage an end portion of the sheet material disposed between said walls and permit mutually opposite urging of the walls tending to increase the spacing therebetween.

2. The tearing means of claim 1 wherein one Wall is provided with a single opening and the other wall is provided 1with a pair of openings at opposite sides of the opening of the iirst Wall.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,676,854 Casterline July 10, 1928 2,319,071 Mason May 11, 1943 2,391,112 Wolteger et al Dec. 18, 1945 2,480,416 Modes Aug. 30, `1949 2,500,012 Smoak Mar. 7, 1950 2,683,641 Larson July 13, 1954 2,861,753 Sipior Nov. 25, 1958 

1. FOR USE IN A DISPENSER HAVING A HOUSING FOR RECEIVING A ROLL OF SHEET MATERIAL, MEANS FOR TEARING AN END PORTION OF THE SHEET MATERIAL DRAWN FROM THE ROLL AND OUTWARDLY FROM THE HOUSING, SAID MEANS COMPRISING: A FIRST WALL ARRANGED TO PROJECT OUTWARDLY FROM THE HOUSING AND PROVIDED ALONG ITS OUTER EDGE WITH A PLURALITY OF OUTWARDLY PROJECTING TEETH, THE OUTWARD PROJECTION OF THE WALL BEING AT LEAST THE THICKNESS OF AN AVERAGE PERSON''S FINGER TIP; AND A SECOND WALL ARRANGED TO PROJECT OUTWARDLY FROM THE HOUSING FACIALLY JUXTAPOSED AND SPACED FROM THE FIRST WALL BY THE THICKNESS OF THE SHEET END THEREBETWEEN SUBSTANTIALLY COTERMINOUS WITH THE FIRST WALL AND PROVIDED WITH A 